NBA highlights on Oct. 31: Last-moment mistake costs Suns game

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns 115-114 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday after overcoming a 20-point deficit.

The Suns continued to miss Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, but that didn't keep them from building an early big lead because Kevin Durant alone was unstoppable in front of the Spurs' poorly coordinated defense. He shot 12-for-19 from the field to score 26 points and finished a two-hand dunk over the No. 1 overall rookie, Victor Wembanyama.

Durant's four starting teammates, plus Yuta Watanabe off the bench, all scored double-digit points as well. They led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, making winning the game look like a foregone conclusion.

However, the Spurs' rally was more ferocious than their opponents had expected in the fourth quarter. They outscored the Suns 33-19 in the final period. Devin Vassell and Wembanyama combined to get 19 points in this quarter. Wemby made a putback dunk to cut their deficit to one point (114-113) with 6.8 seconds left on the clock.

Usually, the trailing team would foul the ball handler to stop the clock and send the opponents to the free throw line. That's probably what the Suns thought, so they threw the baseline inbound to Durant, who shot 88.5 percent from the line.

However, the Spurs outsmarted the Suns by blitzing Durant with Tre Jones, Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson. Johnson stole the ball from Durant and made a quick layup for the Spurs to lead for the first time in Tuesday's game. With 1.2 seconds left, the Suns had Durant take their final shot, but his shot hit the front of the iron, failing to reverse the situation.

Other games on Tuesday (away teams come first):

New York Knicks 109-91 Cleveland Cavaliers

In a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference first-round playoffs, the Knicks again beat the Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, handing their opponents their third straight loss, which keeps them winless at home so far this season.

The Cavaliers missed three key players, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and Caris LeVert. As a result, they only had Donovan Mitchell to count on as both scorer and playmaker. Mitchell shot 8-for-13 in the first half to get 20 points. Then the Knicks began to double-team him whenever he received the ball. After Mithcell was frozen, the Cavaliers had no second player to stand out and take over his load.

By contrast, the Knicks had Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley as their go-to guys in every quarter. None of them matched Mitchell individually, but combined, they made good enough contributions for the Knicks to seal the deal in three quarters.

Orlando Magic 102-118 Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers were very shorthanded in Tuesday's game at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California because they sent away four players on regular rotation in the trade for James Harden with the Philadelphia 76ers. Meanwhile, Harden and P.J. Tucker were unable to play for the team yet.

Short rotation and poor form put the Clippers in a difficult position against the Magic. The home team missed 18 of their 22 field goals (FGs) to get only 13 points in the first quarter. Fortunately for them, Paul George heated up from the second quarter by going to the free throw line six times. Having scored 10 points in the second period, he did even better in the third quarter, contributing three triples and 14 points. Russell Westbrook joined George in this period with 16 points, three assists and three steals.

The incredible performances of George and Westbrook enabled the Clippers to dominate the opponents 41-21 in the third period. Though the Magic fought hard in their rally in the final period, they were never able to turn the game chasable again.